Racism In The Irish Experience

Ireland’s unique position as the only state in the European Union to have been colonised, coupled with the ambivalent experiences of Irish people within the British Empire, means that issues of ‘race’ in Ireland are overlaid by complex social and historical forces. This book is a unique analysis of the racialisation of Irish identities. The author examines key phases in the historical development of an Irish 'racial' consciousness, including 16th century colonisation and 19th century immigration to America and Great Britain. He then examines the legacy of this relationship, both in terms of the new migration into Ireland and relations with indigenous minorities -- travellers and Irish Jews. Garner explores the problematic links between nationalist ideologies and racism. He assesses the economic, social and political factors framing the experience of minorities in contemporary Ireland, and places these in a broader European context.

From inside the book

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Page 58The sources of the various categories of migrants are numerous and diverse, with
nationals of 130 countries being granted work permits in 2002 and over 100
countries represented among asylum-seekers. Since the late 1990s, the early ...

Page 119Traditional seasonal migration for work in agriculture (especially harvesting)
diminished from the 1840s onwards, falling by around half from 60,000 such migrants per year in the 1830s to 30,000 by the turn of the century (Swift, 2002:51
).

Page 174Employment While excoriated for their absorption of public money, migrants are
also viewed with suspicion in terms of their capacity to compete for employment
and access it ahead of Irish nationals. This janus-faced response to immigration
is ...

References to this book

About the author (2003)

Dr. Steve Garner is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of the West of England (Bristol). Before this he taught at the Universities of Paris, Le Mans and Cork. His research has covered ethnicity, racism, class and gender in the Caribbean, France, the UK and Ireland.